Pet dogs could soon be banned from areas near Queensland koala habitats

Talking points

One policy to protect koalas is tougher council law on domestic dogs in areas close to koala bushland.

A new Koala Advisory Council will also consider incentives for households as a sweetener for tougher controls on dogs.

More than $4 million in government koala research over the past 10 years has been poorly targetted, ineffective and largely wasted, a May 2018 koala report finds.

Dogs could be banned around some Queensland koala habitats if the recommendation from a panel of experts is adopted by the state government.

Households close to koala-populated bushland could also be offered incentives, such as rates discounts, for restoring habitat and enacting other koala-friendly practices, this month's report from four Queensland koala experts recommended.

Incentives could be offered to households in south-east Queensland to keep dogs from koalas.

Photo: Cole Bennetts

It could mean possible bans in some suburbs and include grants, or discounts on their rates, the report's author Jonathan Rhodes told Fairfax Media on Friday.

Dr Rhodes said bans on dogs should be investigated by councils in high-risk suburbs close to koala habitats.

He said there was already the example of the Koala Beach Estate in New South Wales, which bans both dogs and cats to protect koalas.

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"These are solutions that have already been looked at," he told Fairfax Media after the release of the report.

Dr Rhodes said the option should be investigated where and when koalas being at high risk were identified.

"Having dogs separated from koala habitats would be a good thing from a koala point of view," he said.

"The difficulty is looking at this over large areas because people generally want to have dogs and cats."

The report describes new local laws to control domestic dogs, but does not use the term "ban".

Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch said the government had accepted all the recommendations, which include the tougher controls on domestic dogs.

"We are currently working through the development of the strategy, which includes the establishment of a Koala Advisory Council, and we will work with stakeholders on its implementation," Ms Enoch said.

"We are confident that this new strategic approach will deliver outcomes to identify and protect priority koala habitats and address all of the threats to the declining koala population in south-east Queensland.”

Ms Enoch said a new Koala Advisory Council would be formed within “six to 12 months”.

That new body would faces enormous problems trying to save koalas from extinction in south-east Queensland.

The big three threats to koalas - habitat clearing, dog attacks and being struck by cars - are all increasing.

Dogs attack and kill about 110 koalas each year, while about 330 each year die after being hit by cars.

There is also no improvement in protecting koala bushland, the report finds.

“Over 10 per cent of koala bushland habitat in the Urban Footprint was cleared between 2008 and 2015,” the koala expert panel report finds.

“There is also no evidence for a reduction in clearing rates over time in south-east Queensland.”

The report says action should be taken to “[I]ntroduce local laws and incentive programs for reducing threats from domestic dogs”.

However, there is only a “below 50 per cent” possibility that this step alone could save koalas, the expert panel’s report found.

The report’s chairman, Dr Rhodes, said steps to control dogs close to koala bushland “need to be conversations between communities and councils and governments”.

“I think we need to identify those places where dogs are an issue, then we need to find effective strategies to keep dogs away from koalas and we should adopt those,” he said.

Dr Rhodes said details had not been finalised.

"But they are pretty commonly used to encourage landowners to do restorative work, ecologically sensitive work on their properties and there is a range of schemes around," he said.

Dr Rhodes said they were used commonly in rural and semi-rural areas. At this stage he knew of few examples in urban areas.

He said he believed it was time to also consider incentives in urban areas close to koala bushland.

"I think there are a range of economic incentives which could be used to get environmental benefits for koalas," he said.

The new Koala Advisory Council is yet to be formed but, given the lack of government co-ordination, the koala expert panel report says it should include public servants from many government departments.

More than $4 million in Queensland Government koala research over the past 10 years has been largely wasted, the report found.

Koalas in cleared habitat near Coomera

Photo: Coomera Conservation Group.

Koala populations in south-east Queensland are reducing quickly (up to 80 per cent in the Redlands, Pine Rivers and Moreton Bay areas), a 2015 study found.

This steep population decline is largely because humans and koalas occupy the same environment and dogs, cars and poorly-monitored vegetation clearing kills koalas.

However, it points out that tackling dog attacks without other steps is likely to see any serious improvement in koala numbers.

“There is compelling evidence that koalas in SEQ are simultaneously affected by multiple threats that include dog attack mortality, vehicle collision mortality, disease, fire and climate change," the report says.

“Finally, the expert elicitation revealed a view that the chance of implementing successful strategies to reduce dog attack mortality, vehicle collision mortality or disease threats within five years was well below 50 per cent.”

The new Koala Advisory Council will set out how the model domestic dog local laws could be shaped, renewed attempts to control koalas killed by vehicles.

It will also try to locate zones for several 100,000-hectare koala conservation zones, where incentives are offered to private landowners in south-east Queensland to keep bushland to preserve koalas.